


Corridor of Reflections

by Death_with_Benefits



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Adventure, Ain't that a riot, Alternate Universe - Outertale, Alternate Universe - Swapfell (maybe...?), Alternate Universe - Underfell, Alternate Universe - Underswap, Alternate Universe - Zephyrtale, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Fiasco intensifies, Friendship, Gen, Headcannons pls, It's not decided yet, Lil bit of Death, Multiple versions of the same character, Multiverse, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Profanity, Rating May Change, Reader Is Not Frisk, Resets, Romance and all that jazz not decided yet, What is this fandom, Wth is freeform?, maybe some fluff, reader is female
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-23
Updated: 2016-05-24
Packaged: 2018-06-04 00:48:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6634318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Death_with_Benefits/pseuds/Death_with_Benefits
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You’re just a child when you first find the long corridor and the world that reflected your own. After befriending the only inhabitant of the strange realm, you’re shown many other worlds and timelines, and many variations of many people, but you’re only ever allowed to watch. Until you’re suddenly left alone to your own devices, that is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Black Phantom

**Author's Note:**

> *gasp* What is this? A post???
> 
> Kinda surprised. I posted this sooner than I expected. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> But yeah, this is my first time uploading a story in second person. I haven't really written in it since college, so I apologise if there are any tense errors and what not. I did check through this twice and corrected some mistakes.
> 
> There may not be any Undertale characters in this first chapter (orarethere?whoknows?huehuehue), and I know that's probably a weird way to start an UT story off, but trust me. I know what I'm doing.
> 
> I think.

You’re only ten years old when you accidentally stumble across it. It’s the summer holidays, and with your parents at work, you have nothing better to do than go call on your friends to see if they want to play. The town you live in was relatively small and out in the country, and there was plenty of places to go out and explore. However, you’re disappointed to find that all of your friends are busy, leaving you to keep yourself occupied. You wander the streets of your hometown for a while, glad to be wearing your sundress as the heat of the sun bore down on you.

You’re walking past the large windows of the local swimming pool when you notice something in your peripheral vision. Your steps falter as you stare with furrowed eyebrows at the window, your curiosity rising. You could have sworn the glass of the panel ripple slightly, but it could have been the light reflecting from the water of the pool’s surface. You peer inside to see it was closed, like it had been over the last few days. There had been rumours that odd things were happening inside the swimming pool; strange distorted objects and shadows, creepy, echoed voices that had no owner. A lot of kids in your neighbourhood had been claiming that it was haunted, and that they had gone to see it at night, only to be scared away by a black phantom. It was just rumours of course, but a part of you believed them. You reach forward to touch the window, only to jerk your hand away like it had been burned.

You stare with wide eyes at the glass. Your heart quickens in your chest as the surface of the window physically moves, rippling slightly from your touch like puddles ripple from rain drops. You’re bewildered, shocked, afraid, and…curious. Your curiosity was the only thing keeping you from running in fear in that moment. You look around hastily to see if anyone was nearby, you really didn’t want your friends or the other kids in the neighbourhood to see this. The street was pretty much abandoned.

With renewed courage, you step closer to the now still glass. You reach out once more and touch the window, retracting your hand a little when your fingertips cause the tiny waves again. When nothing overly dramatic happens, you place your palm against the window and keep in there, watching in awe as what should be solid and physically impossible to move like a liquid dances around your hand. It feels strangely cold and yet not wet, it has a tingly sensation that tickles your skin a little. Feeling a bit more confident, you decide to step even closer, pushing your hand through the surface to see if it would appear on the other side.

You freeze when the ripples become more active. The whole panel begins to move, surging towards your hand, and you let out a yelp of surprise when you’re tugged forwards. Panic settles in when you realised your hand is being pulled in, and you try to yank it out only for whatever was pulling you in the first place to tug harder. Your panic grows as you’re losing the fight rapidly, the surface of what used to be the window rushes in wild waves and begins to glow with a mysterious light. You feel tears begin to sting at your eyes as you’re sucked in; all but your shoulder had been eaten. You turn in a last futile attempt to the abandoned street before screaming.

“SOMEONE! ANYONE! PLEASE HELP ME!”

Nobody hears your cries. You wail as you slip and the entirety of your left side is swallowed, leaving a heavy tingling sensation all over that area. You scream again, even louder than last time.

“MUMMY! DADDY! PLE-E-EASE, HELP ME!” you bawl, tears streaming freely down your cheeks at this point.

But nobody came.

With one final jerk, you’re pulled away from the world. The last thing you see is the clear blue sky and the empty street that had refused to answer your cries.

\-------------------------------------

You wake with a start when you finally come to. You lay still for a moment, not entirely sure where you are, or if you’re even alive. You let out a surprised squeak and bolt into a sitting position when you hear a shuffling noise, looking around with wild eyes. Your current surroundings confuse you slightly. You’re in a long, tall corridor with white walls that somehow have a silver reflection to them. The corridor seemed endless as you look in both directions, and when you look up, your stomach drops at how high the ceiling was. It made you feel very small.

The strangest thing was the countless number of archways. There was hundreds, if not thousands of them, standing side-by-side. They were the kind of archways that should have had doors, but instead there were mirrors. Most of them ripple and glow with life while others were still and solid, inactive. There was one archway that stands out from the rest. It was larger, and had an odd frame around it that almost gleams with a rainbow-like light. It was on a platform higher than yours, and after looking around you locate a tall spiral staircase that extends up to the ceiling.

Once you give your body a good check, making sure you still had all of your limbs and whatnot, you stand shakily. You had lost your sandals in the process of coming here, where ever ‘here’ was, so your bare feet makes soft padding sounds against the cold stone as you cautiously approach the staircase. You glance around anxiously, the feeling of being watched makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end. There didn’t appear to be another soul in sight, but that doesn’t do much to calm you down. You slowly ascend the staircase, gripping onto the railings tightly as you climb.

You’re beginning to regret wearing your sundress now as the corridor is a lot colder than the summer heat of your hometown. You could feel goose bumps all across your body, making you rub your free hand against your arm in a weak attempt to warm your skin.

You eventually make it to the desired platform, passing two others along the way. You gulp when you see that the platform is transparent, unlike the ground floor you had woken up on, and your fear of heights hits you hard. You contemplate just going back down the staircase and crying on the last step, your fear increasing by the minute. You just want to go back home, but a part of you knew that whatever was beyond that doorway had answers. You take a deep breath, regaining your composure and feeling a little determined, you take an uncertain step forward, your breath hitching when your foot lands on the platform. You pause for a moment, and when nothing bad happens, you let go of the railings and take another step forward. It seems stable enough; you bob your body a little, bouncing but not actually leaving the floor. It doesn’t even shake or wobble. Feeling more confident, you carefully walk across the platform, passing the other archways before finally standing in front of your main goal.

It was so much bigger now it was in front of you. You gaze at it, a little stunned by how beautiful the ripples and wisps are that dance in the mirror. Nervously, you reach out, your fingertips oddly eager to touch it. You’d think from your last encounter of being dragged in by these ripples, you would stay well away, but something was calling you this time. You freeze when you hear a voice behind you. It was deep and echoed with a clicking sound that hurts your ears.

**[Human, I would _strongly_ advise against that.]**

You slowly turn with wild, scared eyes. That voice…it makes you tremble from head to toe, causing your heart to pound almost violently in your chest. You couldn’t stop the tears forming, making your vision a little blurry as you finally face the owner of that terrible voice. Your world stops. You feel the blood drain from your face as you hear a pounding in your ears. You let out a terrified shriek in reaction and stumble back, falling on your backside with a painful _thud_. The pain means little you when you’re staring up at something that looks like it should only exist in nightmares.

It was large and constantly moving. It didn’t have a physical body by the looks of it, its form shifting and swirling like a black, thunderous cloud. It was shrouded and wispy; looking like it was preparing to smother you in a poisonous gas. Your breath quickens as the terror you’re feeling reaches its peak.

_It’s the black phantom those kids were talking about,_ you realise in a panic, _it’s gonna kill me!_

However, the ‘phantom’ doesn’t act. It almost looks…confused? If that was possible? It seems to realise what the source of your intense distress is and begins to shift, and you watch intently as it becomes smaller. You feel your anxiety thin ever-so-slightly when you begin to understand what it’s doing. It starts to look more corporal as it forms to look more human-like, and you can see it; the head, torso and arms. Legs not so much, the bottom half of the phantom looks shrouded and unfocused, so you look back up and flinch when you see it’s created an undetailed face. No eyes or mouth, but you can see the nose and the facial structure. Your fear thickens again when it reaches out with a ghostly appendage you assume to be a hand.

**[I apologise for scaring you, child.]** You blink. The clicking sound of the voice was gentler, and you could tell it was more masculine and not so…monstrous. **[I do not get many visitors, so a more physical form is never really necessary for me.]**

Your eyes flicker back to the hand and you realise he’s (you assume it’s a guy) offering to help you to your feet. You reach out with a trembling hand, and hesitantly slip it into his. You’re surprised to find that the phantom is indeed corporal now – or had he always been corporal? – and feels oddly cold. He gently tugs you to your feet before letting go and withdrawing somewhat, giving you space. You stare at him for a few moments before averting your eyes, shuffling on your feet nervously. The initial fear of death was gone, but you’re still a little freaked out.

“U-um…where are we…?” you ask in a quiet, anxious tone.

The phantom ponders on his answer for a moment or two before replying. **[It’s not easy to explain, and definitely not easy for a child to understand.]** You narrow your eyes a little at that part. **[The best way to describe it would be that this is a realm of reflections, mirroring multiple universes and timelines at once.]** Okay, never mind, he was right. Your head is already starting to hurt as you try to comprehend the ‘multiple universes’ thing. **[Sometimes connections from these realities accidentally form, making a doorway to my realm. That is how you came to be here.]**

“So, all of these-” you motion shakily to the countless archways, “are doorways to other worlds?”

**[In short, yes.]**

Yep, okay, you’re gonna need to sit down. You sink back down to the ground on your knees feeling very, _very_ small. It was a good thing you decided to not touch any of them, now. Who knows where you could have ended up?

**[I understand your distress. It’s a lot to…comprehend.]** You nod faintly in agreement.

“Do you live here?”

**[The term ‘live’ is probably lost on me. I merely exist here, watching over these timelines.]**

You say nothing to that. You’re getting a headache from trying to comprehend that there was _thousands_ of worlds in the room you’re currently collapsed in, just metres away from your touch. It was overwhelming for a ten-year-old.

You freeze when you see a shadowy hand gently take hold of yours before pulling you to your feet once again. The phantom doesn’t seem hostile, and you allow yourself to be led through the rainbow archway you had initially climbed for, feeling the same tingly sensation you had felt when you were pulled through the first one. Instead of falling unconscious, you’re alert and standing in a strange white room that was endless and yet not. The ceiling was oddly like the ceiling of a cave, various sized pieces of crystal are embedded in the rock, glowing light blue. In the middle of the room was a circular platform that has the same reflective rainbow colour as the frame around the large archway with many small screen-like windows that float around in an organised manner. There was something about this room that you couldn’t quite place your finger on. It takes you a moment before it dawns on you.

It was like a control room.

The phantom had immediately let go of your hand as soon as you were safely inside, and was now shuffling to the middle of the platform. You follow him, probably foolishly, without question. You feel a little better now you were no longer in that long corridor full of doorways to other universes, but the whole situation was so surreal to you. You look curiously at the window screens that hover and defy the God damn laws of physics, but they were blank. That didn’t really bother you as your youthful enthusiasm was content with just seeing something float without any physical help. Your attention on the mirrors is short-lived as a wave of the phantom’s arm catches your eye, and you turn to look at what he’s doing before you gape in astonishment. Out of nowhere, a chair appears right in the middle of the room. Your new companion almost looks sheepish as he motions you to sit, and you do so without hesitance, relaxing at how comfortable it was.

“Are you a magician?” you ask the phantom excitedly, your eyes glinting.

**[No, no, it’s just an ability I have here. I can make inanimate objects, but not living organisms or edible nutrients.]** You notice him explain this with odd hand movements, but you don’t question it.

“That’s so cool!” It was obvious the phantom didn’t understand your excitement over it. That came to another subject you needed to address. “Oh, I’m _____ by the way! What’s your name?”

He was looking rather uncomfortable now. You pout childishly at his lack of cooperation before taking his reaction a little more seriously.

“Do you…not have a name?” you ask tentatively.

**[I used to. Maybe I still do, but…I don’t deserve to keep it anymore.]** You watch in mild fascination as a small, black mist emerges from the phantom’s ‘mouth’. A sigh. **[A name isn’t really a necessity while I’m here alone.]**

“But you’re not alone, anymore,” you point out with a small smile. “I’m here! And while I’m here, it’s okay for you to have a name.”

He shakes his head. **[You won’t be here for much longer.]**

Your smile falls. “Wha? How come?”

You flinch when you’re met with a serious expression. **[You cannot stay here. This is not a place for humans. I only intended on bringing you to this room so I could send you home safely. I do not know which doorway you came out of.]**

“So…this room will find my home?” you inquire, looking at the blank mirrors.

**[Yes.]**

“Can I come back and visit?”

**[No.]**

“Why not?”

**[_____, did you just not hear what I said?]** You shrink back at how stern the ghostly being suddenly sounds. He sighs again, realising he might have been too harsh before continuing. **[I’m sorry, but this is not a place for humans. How you came here at all is miracle in itself seeing as the accidental doorways that open up are not usually found. You must return home and forget about this place.]**

You stare at him for a few moments, taking in his words. You had certainly been scared at first, but the more you got to talk to this odd man, or whatever he is, the more you realise how alone he is. He had even said so himself that he doesn’t get many visitors. Does he ever leave this place? Does he ever visit the other worlds? You highly doubt it.

With a determined expression, you make a decision.

“I’ll go home, but on one condition.” You raise a hand to stop the phantom from interrupting. “I get to come back to talk to you.”

**[_____, I said-]**

“I know what you said, but I also take in what I see.” He recoils a little at that. “Mister…I can see that you’re lonely… And I think you’re real nice. That’s why I wanna be your friend. I-I won’t tell anyone about this place, and if I do, then you have every right to kick me out and stop me from coming back here. I promise I won’t tell anyone. Please…?”

You stare up at him intently with big, watery eyes. You can see his resolve breaking. You grin cheekily when he sighs for a third time, looking away with what could have been interpreted as a tired expression.

**[Are you absolutely sure about this?]**

“Yes.”

**[Do you absolutely promise to not tell a single soul, even your loved ones?]**

“Yes, I promise.”

**[You must also promise to never go into any of the doorways of the other timelines and universes.]**

“I promise.” Yeah, that was a promise you can definitely keep. Just thinking about going to different worlds scares you, as well as gives you a headache.

**[You must understand that I am not human.]**

“I kinda figured that out when I first saw you.” That earns you a chuckle.

**[One last thing: I also need you to understand that… _things_ happen here. Things that humans are not used to, and if they scare you or make you feel uncomfortable, then you must inform me straight away. I will send you home.]**

“I won’t be scared!” you protest, but the phantom shakes his head.

**[Promise me that you will inform me.]** It wasn’t a question.

You pout again. “Fine, I’ll ‘inform’ you.” You mimic his tone of voice.

**[Stop being such a child,]** he retorts, but the laughter is in his voice.

“I _am_ a child,” you say, sticking out your tongue before grinning. “You still haven’t told me your name.”

**[Like I said earlier, I’m afraid I don’t have one.]**

“Fine, I’ll give you a name.”

**[What?]**

You knit your eyebrows together in concentration for a moment before your face lights up. You think of the perfect name!

With a dramatic finger pointing in his direction, you announce it. “Your name shall be ‘Phantom’!”

There’s a tense silence before…

**[My name will not be Phantom.]**

His name is indeed Phantom.  



	2. Thanks for Having Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Both you and Phantom are lulled into a false sense of security.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't promise that all updates will be this fast. I just have a lot of spare time on my hands right now.

Phantom, as he was now named thanks to you, is surprised when you tell him you want to stay longer. Now that you had his permission to stay and come back whenever you liked, you were gonna take full advantage. It was exciting having made a friend like Phantom, the whole ‘different realm, multi-universe’ thing was just an added bonus of adventure.

The situation you’re in is still eerily surreal to you, but no longer terrifying. You’re no longer scared because you have a friend now, and you spend the next few hours chatting and getting to know your new companion. You tell him about your life, about your friends and what you get up to in school, and how you ended up finding the portal to his realm in the first place. You’re happy when you see he’s genuinely interested in what you have to say about the world you live in. It becomes clear to you that he’s never actually entered the universes he watches over, especially with the types of questions he asks with answers that seem so obvious to you. You’re pleasantly surprised when he begins to tell you about himself in return, not everything, you knew, but enough to sate your curiosity. He tells you how long he’s existed in the realm you stumbled upon, but you notice how he avoids explaining how he ended up here in the first place. You learn that he’s incredibly smart, and loves everything to do with science. Several times you have to stop him from rambling about time travel and everything in between of time and space, because that topic still made your head hurt. You also learn how freely he can change his form.

You laugh and cheer as Phantom changes shape over and over again. First he changes into something that looks almost like a bear, and then shrinks into a feline-type creature before stretching himself out to look like a serpent that stands a little taller than you. You’re still giggling by the time he shifts back into the form he had created to make you feel comfortable.

“That was amazing!” you exclaim with a grin. “I wish I could change my appearance like that. It’d be so cool!”

 **[It has its uses,]** Phantom admits with an amused tone.

“Do you take requests?” you ask almost innocently, and your new friend already knows you’re up to something.

 **[I may to an extent.]** Your grin widens. You look close to a Cheshire cat.

“Could you try turning into mermaid?”

There’s a pause.

**[I’m _not_ turning into a mermaid, _____.]**

You fall into a fit of giggles again, your laughter ringing out like music around the ‘control room’. You miss the vague expression of contentment on Phantom’s face as it disappears long before you’re able to compose yourself.

It isn’t until a little while later that you realise you should check the time. You watch with the usual curiosity and fascination as Phantom waves a ghostly hand, causing one of the blank mirrors to erupt into life. It didn’t ripple like the mirrors in the archways, but it makes a static-like noise, the kind of noise televisions would make if they had no signal. Phantom flicks a finger, beckoning the screen to come closer before he turns to you.

 **[You came from a doorway on the ground floor in the third section, correct?]** You feel sweat beginning to collect on your brow.

“Uh…I, uh…I don’t know?” you reply unsurely. “I mean, I woke up on the ground floor, so I guess?”

That apparently was all the confirmation he needs. He turns back to the screen and begins to tap on it, odd symbols that you didn’t understand appear where ever his finger met the glass, and it wasn’t long before numbers popped up, causing you to flinch minutely.

 **[All universes in the same section have the same time period,]** he explains as he lets the screen float back to its original position amongst the others. **[Some are further in the future compared to their counterparts, while others are still lost in the past. Each section they are located in is their…present time, I suppose.]**

You’re trying really hard to understand, but his words flow over your head. It was going to take you a while to get to grips with this, something that was pretty daunting for you. You cross your arms on the arm of the chair Phantom had materialised for you before resting your chin on your radius.

“So…what time is it in my universe?”

**[Approximately four in the afternoon, give or take five minutes. I’m still tweaking this.]**

You head snaps up from your arms at the time, a shocked expression on your face. It’s _four o’clock_?! You’ve been here for five hours? How was that possible?

“I-I need go get back home,” you stutter hurriedly, pushing yourself up from the comfortable chair. “My parents come home at half four, and if I’m not back before them, they’re gonna be really worried.”

Phantom nods in understanding before beckoning another screen. **[I need to take a DNA sample from you. It will help me find the doorway to your universe quicker.]**

You step closer when he motions you to come forward. He reaches out and gently takes hold of a lock of your hair, thinning it out until he’s only holding a single strand between his finger and thumb before using his other hand to place a his index finger where the strand is still attached. You feel a slight, warm pulse against the side of your head, relaxing you just as Phantom jolts his hand back. You blink when you hear a small snapping noise before your friend retracts his other hand, holding up the hair. You could still see the root at the end.

 **[My apologies if that hurt.]** You shake your head and tell him you didn’t feel a thing. The expression on his face tells you that he’s relieved.

He holds the hair up to the screen, and to your surprise, watch as the mirror absorbs it. The screen bursts into life, showing the very familiar scenery of your hometown with an odd code at the top. _U253-TFM4-088D-OJ01…_

Phantom notices your gaze. **[Those are the coordinates to your universe.]**

“So…all universes have coordinates?”

**[Yes, and they can be fairly tricky.]**

“How so?”

 **[Well, let’s say you need to type your coordinates in somewhere to get back home. If you get _one_ digit, _one_ character wrong, you could end up in a completely different universe to your own.]** Your eyes widen almost comically at that. **[However, I have created a way around that.]**

You’re about to ask what he means by that when he holds up a hand and clenches it shut before opening wide. You gape as a bright, yellow crystal materialises out of his palm, glowing a golden light. It floats a few centimetres above his hand, slowly spinning clockwise.

“W-what _is_ that?” you breathe in awe.

**[This is a tool I have created to form connections and dimensional holes directly through the doorways in that corridor. The holes will then open in some kind of reflection in the intended universe.]**

“Like a mirror or a window, or even the surface of water?”

**[Exactly.]**

“That’s so awesome!” Phantom shakes his head hopelessly at your childish enthusiasm.

 **[Please stand back,]** he instructs, and you do as he says.

You watch intently as he focuses on the golden crystal. It glows brighter and increases the speed of its spinning, and you let out a yell of surprise when an archway identical to the ones in the corridor just _bursts out of the freaking ground_. The glass of its mirror ripples and swirls and you feel almost homesick just looking at it. You look up at Phantom questioningly.

 **[This is the doorway back to your universe,]** he informs you. **[You should end up back where you originally were before coming here.]**

A gleeful grin spreads across your face. “Th-thank you so much!” You run over to the doorway before halting, standing just inches away from the wispy portal. You look back at your friend with an anxious expression, wringing your hands nervously. Despite not having a fully formed face, you can see his look of puzzlement. “I…I’m definitely allowed to come back, right? You’re…you’re not just gonna lock me out?”

Phantom takes in your meek expression before sighing. **[Believe it or not, I have enjoyed being in the company of another. It’s been some time, and it’s something I shouldn’t avoid, even if my new friend is a child.** ] You pull a face at him for that, and he chuckles. **[As long as you keep your promises, you’re allowed back here whenever you like, _____.]**

Your face brightens at that. “Thank you, Phantom!” He winces a little at the name. Ha, too bad. “Um, one other thing… How do I find this place again?”

**[Just find a reflection with the desire to come here, and I will answer your call.]**

“Got it. Welp, see you tomorrow, Phantom!” you sing before turning back to the dimensional hole with a determined expression. Just as you step through, you hear the soft clicking of his voice.

**[I shall see you tomorrow, _____.]**

You couldn’t help but smile.

True to your word, you don’t tell a single soul about Phantom or the long corridor of universes.

\-------------------------------------

Time passes relatively quietly for you and Phantom. The rest of your summer passes uneventfully, save for the fact that you were regularly visiting an inhuman being in an entirely different dimension. Whatever free time you have that isn’t spent playing with your friends was spent seeing Phantom, chatting about your day and getting to know each other a little better. You’re begin to find that underneath his ‘serious, guardian of the universes’ act, he’s totally sweet and kind and a little bit awkward due to not interacting with anyone for so long. You start to bring board games and card games with you, teaching him how to play and gaping in shock when he starts beating you after the first round. At one point, you even ask if you can bring paint to decorate the never ending white walls of the control room – as you were now calling it – but you’re surprised when Phantom firmly says no. You decide not to press the matter any further.

Inevitably, your summer holiday ends and you have the heavy task of telling Phantom you can’t come visit as often as before. Of course, he understands and even wishes you luck for your new school year. Throughout the year, you show him projects you’ve been working on at school, and even give him a recording of a school play you participate in. Before either of you know it, a year or so passes, and Phantom begins to tell you more about the universes he watches over. Well, he kind of has to when you’re accidentally present for something spectacular.

You’re just walking through the dimensional hole into the corridor one day, waving up at Phantom who is waiting for you like he usually does on the third platform when a light sparks down from the ceiling. You shriek and duck down as the rainbow of lights shoot towards and then past you before blasting against the wall a little further down the corridor, landing in between two archways that are oddly far apart compared to the rest. You look up from the place where you’re kneeling towards the odd lights, watching them form something against the wall. You don’t even notice Phantom practically teleporting to your side until you feel his hand on your shoulder.

 **[_____, are you okay?]** he demands to know, worry evident in his voice.

“Y-yeah, yeah I’m fine…” you breathe, your eyes still glued to the lights. “What _was_ that? What are they?”

 **[They’re creation.]** You finally tear your eyes away to give Phantom a look of bewilderment. You’re gonna have to elaborate there, pal. **[Universes are constantly being produced by creativity, imagination and productivity, but not all last for very long. Those that do create a permanent doorway here – look.]**

Your eyes follow his line of sight back to the lights and you watch in wonder as you see an archway take shape. It takes a few seconds, but the lights eventually fade, leaving behind a new doorway. It isn’t active like the others at first, and you’re about to ask Phantom if something is wrong until the mirror suddenly surges into life. It glows brightly before the ripples eventually calm down, and then it’s pretty much identical to every other doorway in the corridor. You turn back to Phantom.

“Who creates them?”

 **[That’s something even I do not know.]** You frown and stand up, just catching him muttering under his breath. **[…up to his antics…]** You raise an eyebrow at him, and he quickly looks away when he realises he’s been heard. **[It’s nothing. Come, there’s a lot I must to tell you.]**

It’s evident the saying, “you’re too young to know or understand” is lost on Phantom. He tells you almost everything about the Reflection World – another creative name by you – and you begin to realise how deep you truly are. He finally lets the screens that float around in the control room come to life, opening windows for you to peer into. He tells you about the secret worlds of monsters who have been sealed away by humans long ago. He shows you the differences between their universes and yours, and even shows you the Underground of your universe. Some universes are remarkably similar, while others are completely different. He shows you universes where monsters have finally made their way to the surface, where monsters are still trapped underground; he even shows you a universe where humans and monsters are in _space_ , and monsters have been sealed on a moon.

If that wasn’t enough to deal with, he starts telling you about the resets. According to his research, the resets are the only thing all universes shared. He explains how someone with enough **determination** is able to alter the timeline, to travel back if need be, or to cheat death altogether. He shows you the many versions of a human child by the name of Frisk, and how they fall into the Underground (or fly to a God damn moon in that outer space universe), and how they befriend monsterkind before either escaping on their own or breaking the barrier entirely. In one universe you see a glimpse of them holding a toy knife with a rather scary expression on their face, but Phantom kills the screen before you can see more. Despite being overwhelmed with information, somehow you know that wasn’t everything. By the time he’s done you’re sitting in your chair with a blank expression. You didn’t know how to feel, or how to react. How had Phantom existed so long with all of this on his own? The thought makes you feel incredibly sad.

You feel tears sting your eyes and you start to cry.

 **[_-_____? What’s wrong? Did I upset you? I-I’m sorry, perhaps this was too much…]** You shake your head, trying to wipe the salty streams from your cheeks and eyes in a futile effort.

“I-it’s not that…” you sob, your shoulders quaking, “i-it’s just…you’ve been alone with this…for _so_ long… I just…it makes me really sad… You shouldn’t’ve gone through this on your own…”

Phantom seems shocked that you’re not crying because of the overload of information. You look up tearfully at his expression of bewilderment, unable to comprehend that you’re crying _for him_.

 **[There’s no need to cry on my part,]** he says, sounding unsure of himself, **[I accepted my fate a long time ago.]**

“But…didn’t it hurt being alone for so long?” you ask honestly.

He doesn’t say anything. Besides the natural flow of his wisps and shrouds, he remains motionless. You begin to worry, maybe you said something wrong? Did you upset him? Your concern only grows when you see a small puff of black mist escape his non-existent mouth – damn that was cool and creepy – before he reaches over to you and places a hand on your head. You shiver slightly at the sensation of his ghostly phalanges combing through your locks as he ruffles your hair.

 **[Sometimes I feel you are far too mature for your age,]** he says in a tired voice. You give him a questioning look. **[Please do not grow up too quickly, _____. Cling onto your childhood while you still have it.]**

You don’t understand what he means by that, but you promise anyway.

\-------------------------------------

“Phantom, look at my new school uniform!”

It’s been two and half years since you met the ghostly being. You continue to visit him and the Reflection World regularly, enjoying the time you spend there. After Phantom had explained the multiverse to you, you’ve since then been free to look through the small windows whenever you like. Being in the strange realm was far more exciting now, not to say it wasn’t exciting or interesting before, but there was something thrilling about seeing multiple versions of the same person throughout the span of many timelines and universes. You see different versions of a pair of skeleton brothers, a goat mother, a goat king (or sometimes queen in those odd universes where everything is switched), a fish lady, a lizard scientist; the list goes on. Monsterkind was such a magical species, both literally and figuratively. You wonder how mankind could ever seal them away when in most universes they seem so kind, you wanted to watch them forever without change. But of course, that was impossible, because you are changing. You’re growing older.

You return to the realm you’ve become so attached to after your first day of high school[*]. You didn’t want to immediately change out of your uniform in favour of showing Phantom how grown up you look in it. When he sees you in it, he smiles – you’ve long since learned how to tell his facial expressions with the lack of facial details – and ruffles your hair. A habit he’s grown into since the day he told you to cling to your childhood. The way he looks at you in your uniform is almost akin to a proud parent.

 **[You look very smart,]** he comments with a thrilled expression. **[It suits you very well. I trust your first day was pleasant?]**

That was it. Once you start talking, you can’t stop. You tell him all about your day, about the friends you made, the types of lessons you had, how you got lost four times trying to find the science block. Your first few months of high school pass blissfully, until you dash to him one day looking panicked. Obviously, he thinks the worst with his stricken expression, only to stare blankly when you hold a sheet of paper up to him. Homework.

“Th-they said they’re gonna give me detention if I don’t hand it in by tomorrow,” you cry as Phantom looks over the worksheet.

 **[That’s what happens when you don’t do your homework,]** he chides, shaking his head.

You give him your best puppy dog eyes, and you can tell he knows what’s coming.

“Could you maybe help me…?”

He sighs.

 **[I will assist you, but I will not just _give_ you the answers.]** You grin at him gratefully. That’s all you need.

\-------------------------------------

By the time you’re fourteen, you master how to use the reflection stone (look at all these creative names). You’re now able to summon the doorway that leads to your universe to the control room, as well as control what you see through the screens that float around the room…to an extent. Phantom has been teaching you how to do it for a year or so now. When he had first asked if you were interested in learning, you had laughed, saying it was impossible because you can’t use magic. You were shocked to find that there’s really no magic involved on your part. It’s all down to the bright yellow crystal in your palm. The only thing you have to do is connect your soul to it and think of the coordinates of your universe.

It sounds easy at first, but a helluva lot harder in practice. When you first started to learn, you felt ridiculously silly staring at the crystal, trying to concentrate on some _connection_ which you weren’t even sure existed. Phantom had quickly recognised your mistake, and explained to you that you had to sort it out with your soul, the very culmination of your being. You looked at him like he was crazy.

That led up to Phantom reluctantly showing you your soul, an experience that was equally terrifying and indescribable. It was an experience you didn’t like to dwell on as it was still pretty freaky to you, and even though Phantom had pointedly refused to touch your soul, a part of you knew how important the whole ‘soul business’ was to him. You trusted him completely with it, and still do.

So when you successfully summon the doorway to your universe for the first time, you look at him with eager excitement at your hard work paying off. The feeling of elation you get when you see the pride in his expression almost makes you cry.

You feel as though nothing could ruin the life you have in that moment.

Oh, how bitter it is when you’re proven wrong a year later.

After five years of nothing threatening or overly dramatic happening, you and Phantom are taken by surprise. Neither of you are prepared for it. Why would you be? It was just another ordinary day for you both. You follow the routine you’ve naturally developed over the years; go to school, come home, do your homework (if Phantom’s help isn’t needed), spend a little free time talking to your friends, have dinner, visit the Reflection World for a couple of hours, and then finally return home for a shower and then bed. You never make it out of the realm you’ve grown to love. You never make it home.

You’re sitting in the control room with Phantom when it happens. You’re winning your first game of Monopoly in months, and just as you’re about to take your turn you hear a horrible, deafening screeching sound. You yelp and cover your ears instinctively as Phantom stands, rushing over to the screen making the horrendous noise. You look over just as he manages to silence it, frowning when you see the borders of the window glowing red while the surface develops a tiny chip. You feel your gut trying to rearrange itself as a bad feeling settles inside it.

“What’s going on?” you ask nervously as you make your way over.

Phantom doesn’t speak. You can see him clenching and unclenching his fists. That’s never a good sign.

“Hey, Phantom, what’s happening?” you demand to know, feeling the light flutter of panic against your stomach.

 **[We…both know there are things I still haven’t told you,]** he speaks hesitantly, almost sounding defeated. **[I thought…perhaps, maybe I wouldn’t need to. I fooled myself into thinking that maybe you were safe. And now I am paying the greatest price. I owe you an explanation for this.]**

“H-hey, c’mon now…” Yep. The panic is _really_ starting to set in now. “You’re freaking me out here, Phantom. You’re not making any sense. Just tell me what’s wrong.”

 **[This isn’t the first time this has happened since your arrival. It’s happened many times, but I’ve always managed to shield you from seeing it.]** Okay, so he was going to continue speaking in riddles. That’s just dandy. **[_____, just as universes are created, they are also destroyed. Many entities destroy them. Sometimes they destroy a universe because they believe it’s the right thing to do, other times they destroy a universe because it’s… _fun_. Sometimes they don’t have any reasoning behind it at all.]**

You frown at that before looking back at the screen that’s slowly developing larger cracks. “So…this universe is being destroyed? What by?”

 **[That is…correct. This universe _is_ being destroyed.]** He pauses. **[Have I ever mentioned the name ‘Chara’ to you?]** You shake your head no. **[Mm, perhaps that is grave mistake on my part. We have no time for a story that long, I’m afraid.]**

Your eyes widen. What did he mean by “no time”? Your heart is pounding in your chest from fear now, a deep, frenzied fear that’s only awakened by the worst of thoughts. You watch the screen as you see what looks like a child standing alone in a pitch black abyss. They look eerily similar to Frisk, minus the pink and blue striped shirt that was replaced with a green and yellow striped shirt and their rosy-red cheeks. They’re holding a horribly sharp knife, barking out a cruel, high-pitched laugh that shakes your soul. You look at Phantom with alarm. He doesn’t meet your eyes.

**[ _That_ is Chara. That creature that looks like a child is no human. They are the cause of this universe’s destruction. As horrifying as it sounds, this is a common occurrence in a lot of Undergrounds.]**

“This is all happening in the Underground?” you breathe. “Why? How? I…I don’t understand!”

**[This is what happens when you mix together the Determination of a demon, and the magic of monsters. It’s a truly terrifying combination. Unfortunately, this happens when a Frisk makes the wrong decisions and resets for the wrong reasons. There isn’t a lot I can do, now.]**

“So we’re just going to watch this universe _disappear_?”

There’s a pregnant pause. Your eyes flicker to Phantom’s face, and you blanch at how stricken he looks. There’s obviously something more.

“W-what…?”

 **[_____...this universe…]** He lets out a broken breath before waving a hand. The image on the screen changes, and shows a terrifyingly familiar town. You could only watch in terror as the buildings and countryside you grew up in begin to disappear into a crimson light, breaking apart as the universe collapses. Your hands fly to your mouth as you gag, and it takes all your willpower to not retch. Tears sting at your eyes when it finally sinks in what’s happening, and you fall to your knees.

“N-no…” you sob, your voice broken with anguish. You look up at Phantom desperately, searching for any kind of sign that this wasn’t happening.

 **[I’m so sorry, _____...]** His tone hurts your chest. You bow your head as you begin to cry freely, tears rolling down your cheeks.

“W-what’s…what’s going to happen to me…?”

**[It is more than likely you will disappear along with your timeline.]**

You feel the agony of hopelessness claw at your soul. You don’t want to die yet. You don’t want to lose your friends, your family, your _life_ , but it was all happening right in front of you, barely visible by the cracks that marred the screen. Your sobs echo throughout the room as your time neared. You had your whole life ahead of you. How was this fair? Why would Chara _do_ this?

You feel Phantom’s hands cover your own before holding them up to get your attention. You glance up to see he’s kneeled down with you with a painful expression. The only thing he could do for you now was to comfort you until it was time.

 **[I promise you…it will not hurt,]** he whispers, gently rubbing your knuckles with his phalanges. **[It will be like falling asleep. You will start to feel heavy, but it will not hurt. It will be quick and peaceful. I…I am…truly sorry for this. I’m so sorry I could not have prevented this…]**

“Peaceful, huh…?” you mumble to yourself before leaning forward, pulling your hands away from his to wrap your arms around his middle in a hug. You rest your forehead against his shoulder, not caring if he returns the embrace or not. Eventually, he encircles his arms around your shoulders, rubbing gentle circles into your back comfortingly. It’s cold like you expected, but the cool temperature calms your soul. You can’t help but smile a little.

“I can think of worse ways to go, you know.” You feel him tense, but continue. “Disappearing like this isn’t so bad.” _I don’t want to go._

**[…I suppose not.]**

“This is so messed up…” _Please, don’t destroy this._

**[I know. I’m so sorry…]**

“This isn’t your fault. I don’t blame you for this.” You turn you head slightly to look at the screen. It’s starting to fall apart as the last of your universe disappears. Not long now.

 **[You were a great companion, _____.]** Your tearful smile widens.

“You weren’t so bad yourself, Phantom.” _I don’t want to say goodbye._

**[That was a horrible name.]**

“Admit it, you love it.” _I want to stay._

You close your eyes as the last of the screen breaks apart. You both anticipate it.

“Thanks for everything.” _I want to **live**._

You brace for the end…

…that never comes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Congrats, you're now homeless and without a universe.
> 
> [*] UK education system. In most of the UK (or at least in England), you only go through primary school, and then secondary school (high school) before heading off to college or sixth form or whatever. However, the county I live in is a little strange as I went through three schools - first, middle and then high school. Kids in other counties usually start high school in year 7 (11-12 years), but I started in year 8 (12-13 years). So at this point in time, the reader is around 12-13 years old, depending on your birthday. Have fun with this useless piece of information.


	3. First Contact

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You become an apprentice and do what teenagers do best.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear these chapters are getting longer... I'm so sorry if long chapters isn't someone's cup of tea. ;_; They won't all be this long.
> 
> This would have been up last weekend, but life kinda got in the way. So here, have my trash. Enjoy!

You barely remember the first two or three days after losing everything. You feel completely empty and detached from reality; it passes like a blur, like someone has left the fast forward on for too long. It’s kind of hard for a fifteen-year-old to comprehend that their family, their life, their entire fucking _universe_ is gone. You had spent a few hours after realising you hadn’t disappeared along with your timeline crying in relief, holding onto Phantom and sobbing with the thought that if you let him go, you’d literally fall apart and dissolve into nothing. But then came the shock and realisation of what surviving meant.

You sit in the armchair that’s been there since day one silently. He tries his best to comfort you, to make sure you know he isn’t going to leave you and that you’re safe. It was obvious that he was worried when you didn’t respond. You simply stare ahead, trying your best not to participate with the world around you. You let a veil of apathy take hold of you so you don’t have to deal with the emotions, the trauma and heartache of knowing that everything you once loved – _still_ love – no longer exists. Your soul was breaking.

At some point Phantom realises staying by your side and attempting to give you emotional support wouldn’t be enough. You barely glance when he stands and walks behind the chair. Your eyes flicker in his direction out of habit when you see him wave a ghostly arm, and you feel a tiny pang of curiosity when a grey door – an actual door – appears out of nowhere. The emotion is quickly smothered and extinguished, and you don’t even ask where he’s going when he opens it, leading to somewhere unnervingly dark and empty. You feel your heart lurch and look away.

He returns a little while later. God, you don’t even know how much time has passed since he left through that door. It didn’t feel like a long time, but with the way that you are now, it could have been hours. You don’t even look up or mumble a ‘welcome back’; you just continue to sit there with your legs pressed up against your chest while you wrap your arms around yourself, resting your chin on your knees. You feel something nudge your arm. You finally look up to see Phantom holding a pastry-like bun out to you. The scent of it causes your stomach to rumble loudly. When was the last time you ate?

A part of you notices the food isn’t like normal food. “What is it?”

 **[It’s called a ‘cinnamon bun’. It’s monster food, it’ll help.]** You eye it warily.

“Can humans even eat it?” you ask sceptically.

 **[With the way that child eats in some of the timelines, it’s safe to say ‘yes’.]** Your expression darkens at the mention of the fallen human, and Phantom realises his mistake. He doesn’t say anything, instead urging you to take the cinnamon bun.

You huff and take it from him. You give it one more doubtful glance before opening your mouth and sinking your teeth into the pastry, tearing a piece off and chewing carefully. It tastes odd, almost like a doughnut with a touch of cinnamon added. A tiny part of you tells you the combination probably shouldn’t work, but you’re not complaining. You’re just about to swallow when your eyes widen in surprise as the mouthful _dissolves_ , and your whole mouth begins to tingle with pure energy. You can’t help but swallow at the sensation, and the tingling immediately subsides. You stare at Phantom, looking a little perplexed. He can’t help but chortle at your comical reaction.

**[The main ingredients used to make monster food are mostly made out of magic. As monsters are also made more of magic than actual physical matter, it helps regenerate their soul and magic levels as well as quelling their hunger. For you, it will just do the latter.]**

“You’re absolutely sure this is safe for me to eat?”

 **[I wouldn’t have given it to you if I wasn’t certain,]** he assures you with a gentle smile.

You frown at the food, but Phantom’s assurance is all you need. You finish the rest of the cinnamon bun, your face scrunching up every now and then when the food dissolves into pure energy before you swallow. You do feel a little better.

 **[I have more food if you are hungry,]** Phantom says, and holds up a large paper bag that was slightly bulging. That’s when it hits you.

“Hey, wait a second…I thought you couldn’t leave this place? How’d you get this food? And don’t say you created it, because you told me the day I met you that you can’t create food like that.”

He looks a little uncomfortable at your detective skills. **[There is…technically one other place I can venture, but it is not the right time. Perhaps one day.]**

You narrow your eyes at the fact that he was keeping more secrets. You sigh and turn away, retreating back to your original hunched position before muttering a moody, “whatever”. You hear him exhale in return, followed by the rustling of the paper bag being put down before you see him shuffle into view out of your peripheral vision. You make a pointed effort to not meet his ‘eyes’ as he creates a chair of his own and sits down, facing you directly. You stay like that for a minute or so, trying your best to ignore his presence. Eventually, Phantom leans forward.

 **[_____, please, look at me.]** The worry in his voice makes your heart ache, and you can’t help but meet his non-existent eyes. **[I’m about to ask you something, and it’s very important you consider your answer to this question seriously, understand?]** You just nod mutely. He clasps his hands together and draws a breath, almost like he’s readying himself for something big. [Do you…regret surviving? Do you regret living?]

You stare at him like he’s crazy. You lurch forward, opening your mouth to say ‘no’, but you freeze. Images and memories of your life flash through your mind, and you slump back. You miss your old life so dearly. You miss going to school and messing about with your friends, you miss the banter you and your father threw at each other, you miss how caring and supportive your mother was. You shove your face in your hands and crumble, trying your best not to cry as the veil begins to crack. You think about the days, the years you’ve spent visiting Phantom and the Reflection World, the opportunity of seeing some of the most incredible things that people are barely able to dream of. No, you don’t regret it, but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt.

You take in a shaky breath before looking back up. “No.”

You can practically feel the relief wash over Phantom’s body. You barely react when he raises a hand to your cheek, using his thumb to wipe away a stray tear that managed to escape. **[Do not bottle up your emotions like this. Your soul will end up breaking under the pressure. You are allowed to mourn, _____.]**

“I know…but what am I supposed to do now?” you ask dejectedly. “Where do I go from here? I have nowhere to go, now.”

 **[ _This_ is your home,]** Phantom says firmly. **[From the moment you persuaded me to let you stay and visit whenever you liked, this place became your home, too. I wouldn’t abandon you like that.]**

You feel a little reassured now you know you have a definite place to stay. “What am I meant to do, though? I can’t just sit here. I’ll go crazy.”

**[I already have an idea for that, but for now you should let yourself rest both emotionally and mentally. You have been through more stress most humans in general wouldn’t go through. We’ll create a more permanent room when you’ve eaten and rested.]**

You can’t help but let a small smile pull at your lips at his fretting. “Yeah, yeah, okay _Dad_.” You both freeze. Your eyes go wide, but not in mortification at the fact that you just called Phantom ‘Dad’, but because you used the same tone you’d use with your real father. The sarcastic tone you’d reply with whenever he lectured you about something.

Something in you breaks and your vision goes blurry with tears that spill down your cheeks. Phantom has already leaned forward, wrapping his arms around you as you cling to him and cry, your body jerking and shaking with ugly sobs of agony and grief as you finally allow yourself to mourn. Despite Phantom being by your side, there was no way to shake away the loneliness that grips your soul tightly as the gravity of what has happened sinks in. As you finally begin to deal with the fact that you’ll never see your friends again; you’ll never hear your father’s voice again; you’ll never feel your mother’s warmth again. It’s a suffocating kind of loneliness.

You have no idea how long you cry. It could be minutes, or hours, or even days. The grief is never ending, but eventually you do stop crying. You sniff and Phantom creates a tissue for you to blow your nose on. Your face feels blotchy, and your eyes probably look red and puffy, but you don’t care. You just want to sleep. Phantom makes you eat one more cinnamon bun before waving an arm, and a comfortable looking bed appears beside the chair. You waste no time in pulling back the white duvet, kicking your shoes off before crawling onto the comfy mattress. You curl up in the blankets and close your eyes, drifting off just as you feel the duvet being drawn up to your chin.

You feel safe.

\-------------------------------------

You and Phantom spend the next month or so adjusting. While you deal with your crippling grief, you also have to adapt the Reflection World. You’re going to be living there permanently, and that means creating a bathroom (you’ve never been so happy to see a shower and bath), a kitchen with all of the basic appliances, and eventually a bedroom. As Phantom creates the door to your private dimension, you describe how you want it laid out, and he perfects it to a ‘T’. When he opens the door, you can’t stop yourself from crying. It’s exactly like your old bedroom back home.

The thought slams in your mind. _Home doesn’t exist anymore._

Phantom also has to adapt to having you around 24/7. Before you’d only visit for an hour to maybe five at max, so you wouldn’t normally see the usual creations of doorways, the way the windows that circle the control room glitch out when there’s a reset in that particular timeline, or when a window turns red and crumbles as that universe is being destroyed. The first time you see another universe’s destruction, you scream. You scream bloody murder as the window disintegrates, and the events of the weeks prior come rushing back like it’s happening all over again. All Phantom could do was hold you and reassure you that you were safe. He didn’t know what else _to_ do. He’s trying his best to adapt.

In the midst of your misery, Phantom tries to figure out why you didn’t disappear. As insensitive as it sounds, he was extremely reluctant to try and find out at first, but you pushed him to do so. You also want to know why you didn’t die along with everything else. He had even said that you were supposed to go along with your universe, so why are you still here? He makes frequent trips through that grey door, and despite your rising curiosity to know, you don’t bother to ask. Eventually, he finally returns from a trip with a defeated sigh, telling you he couldn’t figure it out. You feel a little disappointed for some reason.

 **[Not every mystery or miracle needs to be solved,]** he tells you as you watch an Underswap universe (you’ve been naming them all, now). **[There is no point dwelling on this. It’s time to move forward.]**

You know he’s right, but it still bothers you. There were so many unanswered questions, and not even Phantom could find answers for them. It unnerves you a little.

\-------------------------------------

“Why did Chara destroy my universe?”

It’s a question that you’ve wanted to ask since it happened, but you hadn’t been ready for the answer. Now, two months later, you need to know. You need to know why your life had to be ripped apart by this kid.

It’s obvious Phantom has also been preparing for your question. He flicks his wrist, sending away the screen showing a timeline he had been monitoring. **[Do you remember me mentioning having no time to tell you a story?]** You nod your head in response. **[It isn’t just a story about Chara, but about a monster by the name of ‘Asriel’ as well.]**

You’re crying by the end of it. It gives you a little insight into Chara’s reasoning behind their destructive nature, the determination to end humanity, even if monsterkind has to suffer in the process. But you couldn’t forgive them for what they did. They ripped your life apart. You could never forgive that.

You think about your family and you decide something.

“Phantom, I want to hold a ceremony for my universe.”

It takes you both a couple of hours, but the end result is worth it to you. Candles of various sizes are placed around the control room, flickering and filling the dimmed room (thanks to Phantom) with a warm, orange light. You sit cross-legged on the floor while Phantom crouches beside you, in front of three photo frames. The first is of you and your parents, smiling brightly at the camera from your fifteenth birthday. The second is of you and your group of friends sneaking a picture at school, making funny faces. The third and final photo is a landscape view of your hometown taken from the peak of a nearby hill. Your eyes linger on the last photo, and you being to feel homesick. Your eyes sting with tears, but you blink them back, refusing to cry. No crying for this. You wanted to stay strong, to give them the moment of silence that they deserved.

Until the silence becomes too much to bear, that is. You let out a shuddering breath as your resolve to stay strong breaks down. You manage to mumble out to Phantom that it was enough, and in an instant the candles are gone and the light returns to the room. You reach out, carefully picking up all three photos before hugging them tightly. You’ve never been one to pray, but you hope everyone and everything you love finds some kind of peace now.

They deserve that the most.

\-------------------------------------

It’s been about four months when Phantom asks you. You haven’t been crying as much, and you’re smiling and laughing more, but he could see you need a purpose in life. Your mind and soul craves to do something, but what could a sole survivor like you do? You couldn’t just walk into one of these many universes and participate in them like you’ve always been there. You’re fifteen. You have no birth certificate anymore, no family to vouch for you, how would you enroll in a school or get a job? Phantom wouldn’t let you anyway. You’re not allowed to mess with the timelines or universes.

So you’re unable to hide the dumfounded expression from your face when you first hear the question. You stare up at him with shocked, wide eyes, trying to decide if what you heard is real or not. The cookie mix you’ve been working on is forgotten.

“C-could you say that again?”

 **[I asked if you would like to become my apprentice…of sorts.]** He’s wringing his ghostly hands together, something you’ve learned to be a nervous habit.

“An apprentice?”

**[Yes.]**

“What…what would I do?”

 **[We have both decided that you will be living here permanently, so it would only make sense if I teach you how to watch over these universes properly.]** You feel your breath hitch.

“Y-you mean…be a guardian like you?” Your heart is pounding like crazy at the prospect.

**[Yes, if that’s something you would like to do.]**

“Yes…of course! Of course, I’d love to be your apprentice! Yes!” You can’t help yourself. You let out a broken laugh and lunge forward, hugging Phantom tightly as you feel tears sting at your eyes. Happy tears.

You feel him pat your shoulder awkwardly, and you grin. **[Well then, would you like to start now?]**

You pull away and smile brightly up at him. “Yes.”

You are filled with **determination **.****

\-------------------------------------

It takes you a little more than a year, but you’re finally able to use the reflection stone confidently, making use of its power to the fullest. Under Phantom’s careful supervision and training, you’ve grown in leaps and bounds from the broken teenager that moved in a year ago. He teaches you how to manipulate what you see in the windows, showing you how to feel and search for glitches and signs of corruption in the timelines with your soul. You clench your hands around the golden crystal and close your eyes, reaching out and feeling the warmth of your soul thump in a rhythmic pattern. The crystal glows brightly in your palms as images of the timeline in the window flash by in fast-forward. You don’t need to see them for this; you only need to locate any possible anomalies. Whenever you do find an anomaly, you feel it in your soul. It jolts you right to your core, causing your stomach to drop. The jolts you’d feel depend on the severity of the anomaly, and whether it was a threat or not. As soon as you nail finding glitches and corruption, Phantom quickly moves you onto another lesson.

Leaving subtle signs and warnings via the screens.

“Wait, whoa, hold on – I thought you said we couldn’t interfere with the timelines?” you ask incredulously as you watch Phantom’s phalanges ghost over the surface of the screen as he leaves the tiniest of warnings.

 **[Yes, we cannot physically enter the timeline and warn them or prevent it ourselves. It would cause more harm than help, but we _can_ leave signs in hopes that someone picks up on the impending danger.]** You watch uncertainly as you see Phantom leave what looks like a note hidden behind a waterfall. **[Most of the time, the Sans of that universe picks up on the warnings, but others have also found them. Sometimes they know what to do with them, and other times they do not. This is all we can do as guardians.]**

You pout slightly. “Still sounds like interfering to me.”

**[_____, who is the mentor here?]**

“I’m just sayin’.”

Regardless of your concerns, you follow the lessons closely. You realise that despite how small the warnings had to be, it was a lot of working creating them. Every timeline and universe was different, and even if the differences are tiny, the adjustments to the warnings from one timeline to another are usually extensive. One mistake could doom the entire timeline to erasure.

Despite the pressure you feel from your new role in the multiverse, you love it. How many humans get to do what you do? How many _people_ get to watch in wonder as you see many different variations of monsters and humans live their lives, completely unaware (most of the time…) about the other universes and timelines weaving amongst theirs? You can never push away how your heart and soul reacts when someone looks into a mirror or a window, not knowing how their eyes meet yours through the reflection as they give their appearance a one-over before a date, or to check their make-up or hair for work, or to simply give themselves a smile. Sometimes it leaves you a little…sad.

The melancholy in your heart never lasts for long, especially when your sixteenth birthday comes around. Phantom has learned many human traditions and holidays, so it’s no surprise to you when you wake up to Phantom grinning at you with a birthday cake in his hands. You almost squeal and bound over in your starry pyjamas, looking at the cake in glee. It’s a homemade chocolate sponge with the words ‘Happy Birthday, _____!’ written in chocolate butter icing. There were sixteen lit candles that have been carefully placed near the edges, flickering gently.

 **[You’re not too old to make wishes, I presume?]** Phantom asks in amusement.

You grin up at him. “Never too old.” You take a deep breath and blow out the candles as you make your wish, taking in the scent of the faint smoke. It takes you back to the birthdays of your past, everyone you love sitting in your living room as they sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to you.

 **[I suppose I’m not allowed to know the wish you made,]** he assumes as he places the cake on a table he must have created earlier.

“If I tell you, then it won’t come true.”

Phantom chuckles before turning back to you. Your eyes are immediately drawn to the small, brightly wrapped present in his hands, and you gape, your eyes flickering back up in surprise.

You had not been expecting gifts. “Ph-Phantom, you didn’t have to…”

**[I know, but I felt like it was time to give this to you, anyway. And what’s not a better time than your birthday?]**

He holds the present out to you, and you take it from him gingerly. You didn’t want to drop it, cradling the wrapped gift in your hands as though it was the most precious thing in the world. You carefully take the wrapping paper off, letting it fall to the floor as a black box is revealed. You meet Phantom’s eyes and he nods reassuringly, encouraging you to take the lid off. You feel your soul quicken when a golden light filters out into the control room.

“Th-this is…?”

**[A reflection stone, as you’ve officially named them.]**

“‘ _Them_ ’? There’s more?” you ask in amazement, your eyes still on the crystal. It’s smaller than the original you’ve been practicing with and smoother as well. It’s not as…worn out?

 **[Yes, only two for the time being. This one belongs to you, now.]** You finally tear your gaze away from your present to give Phantom a tearful grin.

“Thank you so much, I…I don’t know…how to…” You’re trying to process too many emotions at once. Happiness. Gratitude. Overwhelmed. Ambivalence.

**[Nothing needs to be said, _____. Enjoy your birthday. We both know you only get so many of them.]**

You nod in agreement and hold the crystal close to your chest. A flash of light extends from both sides of the gilded gem into a thin chain, looping around your neck and meeting together at the back, creating a necklace. You gaze at the reflection stone for a moment longer before dropping it under your shirt, feeling it press slightly against your skin, right above your heart and soul. It gives a comforting warm pulse, like it’s always meant to be where it is right now. You let out a sigh of content.

You finally feel home.

\-------------------------------------

If only things could stay the same. If only you could continue to watch over the universes and timelines, feeling satisfied by just watching the lives of others as they stay safe and happy. If only you could pacify that burning curiosity when Phantom makes his trips through that grey door to wherever, to feel glad knowing that he can physically go somewhere else. If only you hadn’t become so _attached_ to some of the universes you find the most interesting. If only you hadn’t become so attached to a timeline in particular…

During the first few months of your training, you came across an Underfell timeline. You had noticed right away that something was different about it compared to its other variants. There was usually nothing you could do to warn one of these timelines, they would already be so violent and hopeless you’d almost feel that an erase would be more merciful. _Almost_. But this one was – _is_ – different.

Monsters still kill each other. The king is still vengeful and hell-bent on starting a war with humanity, and the forgotten queen is still insane and bitter from losing her children, but there was something different. There was hope. It’s faint, but you can see it’s there amongst the dust. Monsters actually _care_ about each other; there are times when walls are lowered for a moment of peace before they’re built back up, but the moment of peace was there. You begin to cherish this timeline.

Most of all, you’re intrigued about the Sans in this timeline. Usually, you’d watch with a heavy heart at how helpless the short skeleton of these timelines would be, not caring whether he lived or died. With Papyrus either being dead or hateful towards them, you could see why they’d give up. But you notice how the skeleton brothers act in private. The animosity they express for one another in public is replaced with tolerance and maybe even appreciation. It takes you a while, but you realise with a start that this version of Sans and Papyrus are grateful that the other exists. Though they would never admit it, they rely on each other emotionally and mentally.

You feel your heart pound whenever you get a chance to check on the timeline. Maybe you could at least keep this one safe?

The only trouble was the large number of resets. Despite the Frisk of this timeline never committing a genocide run, they reset frequently, and it worries you. Sure, the monsters in this timeline aren’t exactly the friendliest, but that didn’t explain why didn’t just reload instead of resetting. You even asked Phantom about this, but he merely shrugged and said to not dwell too deeply on the events of one timeline if it wasn’t critical. This made you frustrated beyond belief.

You sigh from your place on the armchair. You lean on your elbow on the armrest with your hand cupping your cheek, watching the screens for any major anomalies or corruptions. It was going to be a quiet watch.

 **[_____?]** You look up at the owner of the clicking voice. **[I’ll be heading out again.]** You nod in response before your eyes flicker back to the screens. **[I won’t be able to return for a while, maybe a week or two at the most.]** You look back at him in surprise.

“Wait, what?” Where the hell was he going for him to be gone _that_ long? “Y-you want me to look after this place by myself?”

 **[Yes, I trust you will be able to manage it. But, if you do need me…]** he trails off to concentrate, and with a flash of light, a small device appears in his ghostly hand. He holds it out for you, and you take it, immediately recognising it as a mobile phone. **[Contact me with this, and I shall return as soon as possible.]**

“Okay,” you reply, smiling up at him. “Stay safe. See you in a few days.”

You let out a burst of laughter when he ruffles your hair. **[You as well. I shall return as soon as I can.]**

You watch him turn to walk through that damned door before calling him out. He halts and gives you an inquisitive expression. “Can…can you tell me where you’ve been going, soon? I know I shouldn’t pry, but…”

 **[_____, you’ve been very patient with me,]** he says appraisingly, cutting you off. **[You have my word, when I return, I will tell you.]** Your eyes light up.

“You promise?”

**[I promise.]**

Satisfied with his answer, you let him go. You watch him disappear before slumping back against the chair with a sigh.

It looks like you’re on your own for now.

\-------------------------------------

You can only resist it for three days. By the third day after Phantom’s departure, you’re restless. You need to _do_ something. You need to talk to _somebody_. You wander around the long corridor for an hour or so at a time, doing laps of different routes, gazing longingly into the archways that are active. How the hell did Phantom manage to stay like this for so long?

By the third day, you can’t take it anymore. You need out, even if it’s only for five minutes. You know what you’re about to do is wrong and against Phantom’s rules, but as long as you didn’t talk to anybody, it’d be fine. Right?

It takes you a moment to decide, but you finally choose a timeline. You tug your reflection stone out from under your shirt and focus the connection between it and your soul. You feel your gut attempt to rearrange itself in apprehension as you recite the coordinates perfectly in your mind, causing the golden crystal to glow brightly. _U487-FUK8-255G-KF38…_

Your stomach jolts when an archway appears in front of you. You stare anxiously at the doorway to the Underfell universe you’ve grown fond of, so desperately wanting to dive into the wispy reflection, but reluctant to break your promise with Phantom. You’ve come this far, you’ve summoned the doorway, and you know how to get back. You just need an hour to walk around and physically take in some new scenery. You take a deep, shaky breath, setting an alarm on your phone that would signal the time for you to come back. You strengthen your resolve and step forward into the doorway. You feel the familiar tingles you haven’t felt in over a year and close your eyes. When you open them, you’re greeted with the world tumbling in your vision.

With a yelp, you fall flat onto an icy cool surface. Groaning and rubbing your cheek, you sit up, shivering slightly from the drastic drop in temperature, and immediately wish you were wearing something warmer. With a glow of light from the reflection stone, you make a noise of surprise when you’re suddenly wearing a black, zipped up hoodie. That’s gonna take some getting used to.

You look around and take in your new surroundings. You’re currently sitting on a frozen lake, which is less than comforting and more borderline terrifying. You watch as the last of the ripples of the dimensional hole shimmer out of existence, leaving the ice looking as solid as it feels. Your eyes scan the edges of the lake, giving you nothing but the shadowy trees of Snowdin Forest. It’s awfully dark, and the scent of damp earth hangs in the air. You finally know what it feels like to be in the Underground.

You carefully push yourself to your feet, keeping your eyes firmly on the ice. You strain to hear any tell-tale signs of cracks in the ice, not knowing how thick or thin the frozen water really is. You didn’t particularly feel like catching hypothermia and having to go back and explain that to Phantom. The thought of your mentor sends a shiver of guilt down your spine and you push it away, needing to concentrate on making your way to land.

It takes you ten, anxiety-filled minutes, but you’re finally on solid land. Your shoes hit the snow with a soft crunch, and you turn back to the lake, taking a mental note to create the portal home closer to the shoreline. You look back into the forest, feeling a little uneasy. It looks like one of those scenes from the horror movies you used to watch, where the teens would sneak off to a cabin in the woods, only to be killed one-by-one. You exhale – you watch the small cloud of condensation drift away – shaking yourself from those thoughts. _This isn’t like horror movies, _____. You’ll be_ fine _. Just…as long as you don’t run into anyone._

The possibility of running into someone like Papyrus is almost enough to tempt you back home, but you stay determined. Okay, so perhaps an Underfell timeline wasn’t the best idea to visit to stretch your legs, but you’re here now. You march forward into the trees, not allowing yourself to be spooked. You do your best to stay alert as you weave your way through, trying hard not to trip or fall on the large roots of the trees. The snow covered ground makes it hard to tell where you’re planting your feet, but after twenty or so minutes, you finally reach a clearing. You peek your head out from behind a large tree trunk to glance at the path, noticing it isn’t covered in snow like the rest of the forest. You’re about to question how when you realise. _Magic…_

You step out onto from the trees as you rub your arms to keep warm. You look left to see a large, dark violet door in the distance, and figure that that must be the entrance into the ruins. The thought of meeting this timeline’s Toriel doesn’t appeal to you, so you look right, spotting the bridge a few yards away. You make your away over to it, frowning at the sturdy bars and barbed wire. _How the hell am I supposed to get over this?_ Before you can even attempt to scale the bars, a deep voice stops you.

“hey,” the voice growls and you freeze, slowly turning around to face its owner, the situation feeling all too similar to how you met Phantom. You feel your heart pounding in your chest as you finally stand face-to-face with a familiar golden-toothed skeleton. The relief and excitement you feel is short-lived when he bares his sharp teeth at you.

“who the **fuck** are you?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Imagine if the reader lost their reflection stone.
> 
> Boy, they'd be in for a bad time.
> 
> Also, the whole 'hidden warnings and notes and signs' aren't in the game (that I know of). It's just something I've slipped in to make it more interesting. They are guardians, after all.


	4. Just a Friendly Skeleton

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He isn't that bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've had to split this chapter up because it was just getting too long. I'll try and upload chapter 5 tomorrow if life isn't screwing me from behind.
> 
> Also, this is kinda my first time uploading my writing of Sans, so I hope it's okay? He can be a difficult character to portray ;_;
> 
> But, uh, yeah! Enjoy!

You take a step back from the glowing red eye that is staring menacingly at you. You try to distance yourself as much as possible while avoiding getting yourself caught on the barbed wire behind you. You’re confused as hell. Sans had never reacted this way to Frisk in all of the resets you had witnessed. Despite being openly crude at times, he had never been so threatening. He doesn’t advance after you, but the glare he has isn’t exactly easing your fear. What have you done to cause such a reaction? You’ve only _just_ got here.

After a tense moment he relents. You follow his every movement closely as he relaxes, bringing a hand out of his black hoodie-jacket to scratch his skull, the ends of his phalanges looking a little sharper than they’re meant to. You notice a large crack running across the top of his skull and wince slightly. Seeing his past injuries in person was a lot different than seeing them on a tiny screen.

“sorry ‘bout that, girlie,” he finally says, giving you a shit-eating grin, flashing his gold tooth, “was expectin’ someone else.”

You frown at the nickname before your eyes widen in realisation. Of course! You had completely forgotten about the reset a few days prior to coming here. This timeline’s Frisk hasn’t emerged from the ruins yet, and with Sans at least remembering _something_ about the resets, knew he’d be running into them, not [em]you[/em]. Well, that explains the rude greeting.

You school your expression when you see the short skeleton raise an eyebrow ridge at you. “Well, _skelly_ ,” you drawl, emphasising the (maybe racist?) nickname, “you didn’t have to be so rude about it. I actually thought I’d have to drop kick you for a second, there.”

To your surprise, he lets out a loud, unfiltered laugh. “ _you_ drop kick _me_? c’mon, pet, we both know that ain’t happenin’.”

You narrow your eyes at him. He was mocking you! Your opinion of the short skeleton was starting to change, and not in a good way. You’re now realising coming here was a big mistake. You thought maybe, just _maybe_ , you’d finally find someone else to talk to. After all, this Sans knew about the resets, and maybe even about the multiple timelines and universes to an extent. You love talking and living with Phantom, but you needed other people to talk to. That’s why you were relieved and excited to finally meet this Sans, but now you’re just feeling disappointed at how much of a douche he is. Without thinking, you cross your arms and turn away from him slightly, reacting on impulse. Which is possibly an immature and dumb move made by you.

“At least I’m not the one shorter than a sixteen-year-old girl. What, did you not drink your milk when you were a baby?” You freeze. Okay, maybe taunting him wasn’t the best idea.

His eye sockets are narrowed at you again. “well ain’t this a treat? you’re a feisty one, ain’t ya, girlie?”

Yep, you messed up bad. You feel the fear return and clench slightly at your soul, and you decide you need to go back home – _now_. But how? If you tried to run away, Sans would just use his blue magic to stop you. A part of you knows he wouldn’t deliberately try to kill you, from what you’ve seen on the screens, he doesn’t like killing, whether it be monsters or humans. But that didn’t mean he’d let you go. You feel the panic rise up inside you at the thought. What if you can’t get home, now? You’re pretty sure Phantom can’t physically come and help you. You had fucked up so _bad_.

You take an uneasy step back and slip, falling back against the bars. You let out a sharp whine of pain as you feel the barb wire hook onto your left arm and upper back while some of your hair gets tangled in the sharp metal. You try to pull away as the wire digs in through your hoodie and into your flesh slightly, only to feel tears sting your eyes when your scalp on arm throbs with pain. You flinch when you suddenly feel a hand on your shoulder, keeping you still. You stare up at the red-eyed skeleton in dread and bewilderment. He looks…worried?

“whoa, whoa, whoa, shit – hold still for a sec.” He kneels beside you as he gently takes hold of your arm with one hand while the phalanges of his other hand carefully unhook the barbed wire from your clothes. Once your arm is free, he works on untangling your hair, cursing quietly under his breath every time you flinch or inhale sharply from pain. As soon as your hair is free, he takes your hand and helps you too your feet. You wince, rubbing your arm as it stings before looking back at the bars, seeing a few strands of hair still tangled in the wire. You glance back at Sans uncertainly.

“sorry ‘bout scarin’ ya,” he mutters, shoving his hands back in his jacket pockets before shrugging. “didn’t really ‘xpect ya to bark back. Your arm ok?”

That was a good question. You tremble slightly as you unzip the hoodie, shaking your left arm out of the sleeve to see numerous red welts all glistening with crimson along your skin. It isn’t serious, but it stings like hell. You quickly put the hoodie back on, shivering a little from the cold.

“I’ll live…” you reply in a quiet voice. You just want to go home.

“i’d heal ya myself, but m’not good at it.” You frown when his grin widens devilishly. “guess you could say i was just too _bone idle_ t’ learn.”

You gape at him. Did he just crack a _skeleton_ pun? You can’t help but let out an ugly snort, which then causes you to laugh, feeling relieved and cheerful. You can’t stop; it was just so funny and ridiculous. A skeleton telling skeleton puns, it was brilliant. The tension that had built up from earlier begins to melt away as you grow less uneasy.

“heh, puns are always a good _ice breaker_ ,” Sans continues with a wink, causing more laughter to erupt from you. “we just needed to _chill out_.”

“O-okay, okay, you win!” you wheeze, clutching your sides. Your eyes light up when a pun comes to mind and you grin back. “ _Snow_ more worries, right?”

The short skeleton’s eye sockets widen, his eye lights returning to white in his delight. He scratches his skull again, looking a little bashful. “heh, good one, kid. i’m sans, by the way. sans the skeleton.” He holds out a skeletal hand for you to shake.

Without thinking, you reach out and slip your hand into his. You feel a strange jolt shoot through your palm and fingers, and immediately snatch your hand away with a yelp. Sans laughs again and shows you the buzzer attached to the smooth bone of his palm. You’ve seen this prank so many times, and you still manage to fall for it. He grins at you, flashing that gold tooth that was slightly larger than the rest.

“hope i didn’t _shock_ you too much.” Okay, so he isn’t as much of a douche as you thought. “what’s ya name, pet?”

“I’m _____, kinda pleased to meet you,” you reply, smirking at the way his eyebrow ridge raises. How is that even possible?

“‘kinda’? i thought i’d make a better impression then that.”

“Well, you did sneak up behind me and scare the hell outta me.”

Sans looks away and you feel your stomach drop when his left eye begins to glow red again. “yeah…m’sorry ‘bout that. have a tendency to fuck shit up n’ make bad first impressions.”

“No, it’s fine, really,” you try to reassure him. You notice he’s begun to sweat a little, and his eye light flickers over to your face anxiously.

“i wouldn’t’ve harmed you or anything. m’not one for killin’.”

“Isn’t that a good thing?”

Sans lets out a humourless laugh before almost growling. “in this hellhole? it’s either ‘kill or be killed’. n’ i’m fucking sick of havin’ to kill just to survive.” He freezes, giving you a worried glance. “s-sorry, i didn’t mean to vent.”

“Is…this place really that bad?” You feel a pang of pain hit your soul. Had you been wrong about this place? You definitely saw the hope, but Sans didn’t look hopeful right now. Were the resets finally taking their toll on him?

“heh, nah, i’m just bein’ overdramatic.” You blink at him.

What?

“i’m mean, yeah, it’s shit n’ all. livin’ underground and havin’ to watch ya back, but it could be worse, y’know?” You watch and listen silently as Sans’ eye lights return to normal, and he adopts an almost tender smile. “not a lotta monsters have someone to depend on, but i have boss. my, uh, bro. he’s real cool n’ real strong, n’ even though we act real nasty to each other in public…we depend on each other to keep goin’.” Your eyes widen, and you feel your heart pound with elation. There it is! There was the hope!

Sans seems to realise how much he’s been speaking. His face flushes red and he looks away, making a pointed effort to not make eye contact. “shit, what the hell am i doin’? i don’t even _know_ you, n’ here i am spilling my guts. not only that, but you’re a _human_.”

Well, that sounded a little racist. “So what if I’m a human?”

“holy fucking shit, have you seriously not met a _single_ monster since fallin’ down here?” he asks incredulously, giving you a baffled look. “almost every monster down here hates humans. y’know, since they trapped us down here. you’ve heard the legend, right?”

“Yeah, I’ve heard of it.” You can’t shake the guilty feeling that settles in your chest. “Humans were assholes to monsters, I get it.”

“i dunno if you do. d’you know how break the barrier keepin’ us down here?” You open your mouth, almost letting the answer slip after seeing at the barrier fall many times in different timelines. But you remember Sans doesn’t expect you to know, so you simply shrug. “heh, thought not. it takes seven human souls to break the barrier. we already got six, we just need one more.”

Your eyes widen and you take an unconscious step back. He isn’t seriously planning on taking your soul, is he? He just said he isn’t one for killing anymore! Sans notices your panicked expression and quickly rushes to try and reassure you in a flustered frenzy.

“shit, no, i didn’t mean – i’m not gonna kill ya or anythin’, i swear. i was just saying…ah fuck…” He sighs and scratches his cracked skull again in defeat. “i told you. not into the whole killin’ business, anymore. it’s just…i dunno how you’re gonna survive.”

“What do you mean?” you question, taking in the way the skeleton sags, the way he almost retreats into his red and black jacket with such an expression of guilty hopelessness. A part of you is beginning to hate seeing that expression on his face.

“i dunno how well you’re gonna understand this when i barely understand it myself.” He chuckles again, sounding just as hopeless as he looks. “hell, i don’t even know if you’re gonna _believe_ me. see, there’s usually a different human that comes through those doors. a kid, even younger than you. tiny little thing. but they’re special, **determined** , they’ve lived through so many lives n’ so many timelines, i dunno how they haven’t _broke_. or maybe they have. s’probably why they reset so much. i try n’ keep ‘em alive, but i can only do so much, y’know? they could just reload or whatever, but i guess then they’d have to face the same death over n’ over, and even i can understand why that wouldn’t be fun. but you? if you died, that’d be it. game over. no resets for you. i dunno if the kid is gonna come through this time if _you’re_ the one who came through. kinda surprised t’ see no scorch marks on ya from the old lady.”

That’s when it clicks. Sans notices your lack of injuries and the way you don’t even look sceptical or scared or even upset. He narrows his eye sockets again, and you squirm under the scrutiny. You want to tell him so badly about where you’ve come from, about what happened to your universe and how you’re only able to watch the timelines and universes you’ve been trained to protect, but never allowed to interact with. You want to thank him for telling you in person about just a snippet of what he has to live through instead of watching it from a window, powerless to stop it. But you don’t. You _can’t_. That would mean breaking your promise with Phantom.

So you look back and give Sans a sad smile. “It looks like you’re gonna meet another human who has too many secrets and too many promises to keep.” Ha, and you scold Phantom for being cryptic.

“whaddya mean by that?” he asks in a tone laced with suspicion.

“I’ll tell you one day, maybe, but for now…could you do me a favour?” He raises an eyebrow ridge in response. “Could you…not ask me too many questions? About my past and stuff…? It’s kind of…complicated.”

Sans’ hard stare softens at that. “heh, i can sympathise with ya there. what do i get in return?”

“You get a friend you can rant and vent to about these ‘resets’ you have to deal with. A friend you can depend on to understand how you feel.”

“wait, how can you-”

“Sans.”

He takes in your pleading expression. A realisation settles between you at how much you both _need_ this. For one of you to just spill out your feelings and experiences and insecurities without being judged, while the other finally feels less alone with the satisfaction that you might be physically _helping_ instead of leaving tiny hints that barely do a thing.

Sans’ eye lights return to normal as he pulls his hand – his other hand – out from his pocket and extends it to you. “heh, yeah, i can do that for ya, kiddo. after all, you said ‘one day’ so s’not like you’ll never tell me.”

“Yeah, maybe,” you mumble as you accept his hand. “Thanks Sans, you have no idea how much this means to me.”

“i could say the same thing, pet.” He pulls his hand back and pauses in thought. “so, how’s this gonna work, anyway? from what it sounds like, you didn’t fall down. you didn’t even come through the ruins, did ya?”

“Not too many questions, remember?”

“aw, you’re killin’ me here.”

You giggle and pat his head, much to his chagrin. “One day, I promise.”

You almost regret promising that.

“heh, one day.” Sans flashes you a genuine grin.

Almost.

A sudden beeping sound causes you both to flinch. Your eyes widen when you recognise the sound and fish out your phone from the pocket of your jeans. You curse under your breath when you realise your hour was up. Sans gives you a curious look.

“I have to go,” you say urgently as you shove the phone back in your pocket.

“go _where_?” he asks incredulously.

“Home,” you state before dashing past him and towards the trees you stumbled through earlier. You quickly glance back to give him a grin and a wave. “I’ll be back tomorrow, I promise!”

_“that’s two promises i’m holdin’ you for, pet!” he calls back as you enter the dense forest. You can’t help but laugh before focusing on the task at hand._

Following your previous footsteps, it takes you less than ten minutes to find the frozen lake. Pulling the reflection stone out from under your t-shirt, you close your eyes and allow the connection between the golden magic and your soul. You think about home, and soon enough the ripples appear, distorting the surface of the ice. Thankfully the dimensional hole is closer to the shoreline, and all you have to do is a running jump. You feel the tingling sensation all over again, feeling pleasantly relaxed by them before you let out a groan of pain when your face connects with the floor of a platform. You _really_ need to start working on your landing.

You look around and notice you’re not on the ground floor. Crawling over to the edge of the platform, you take note of where you are – _second floor, fourth section._ You glance back at the archway you just fell through with a smile one more time before you freeze. A feeling of cold, guilt-driven trepidation washes over your body. What have you done? What made you go against Phantom’s warnings and enter a _timeline_? You could have gotten seriously hurt! What if you had been killed? What if that Sans hadn’t been as nice or as understanding as he was? So many things could have gone wrong!

 **But they didn’t.** A small part of you pipes up and you smash your head into your hands.

 _But what if they had?_ You argue back.

**You would have found a way to get out of it.**

_Miracles don’t happen to me. The destruction of my universe is proof of that._

**But you didn’t disappear, and now you’re accomplishing more than any human has.**

_Only because Phantom trusted me! I broke his trust! I broke his promise!_

**Phantom would have understood.**

_Phantom would have-!_ Your internal conflict is quickly smothered when your thoughts linger on your mentor. Does Phantom know? Did he notice you were gone? You scramble to your feet before you break into a run towards the spiral staircase, taking two steps at a time until you make it to the third floor. You dash through the archway into the control room, paying no attention to the sensation this time, fearing that you’ll be met with the disappointed expression of a shadowy being. Instead, you’re met with emptiness. You quickly check your phone. No new messages. Phantom still hadn’t come back from his trip.

You collapse in the armchair in relief. The relief did nothing to quell your guilt, however. Okay, so maybe you were going to need to have a talk with Phantom about being in the Reflection World 24/7 after all. Being here on your own constantly is horrible. How did he put up with this for so long? How has he not gone crazy? Maybe he’s just stronger than you when it came to this.

With a sigh, you wave a hand like you’ve seen him do so many times before, beckoning one of the floating windows over. You peer into the screen, a small smile tugging on your lips when you see the now familiar skeleton at his post looking guarded as usual, but also a little relaxed. It almost looks like a heavy weight has been lifted from his shoulders. Maybe you really did help? Maybe you really _are_ helping? You feel a kind of rebellious thrill tug at your soul. It’s been so long since you’ve felt like a teenager. You know you have heavy responsibilities, but the freedom you’re currently feeling was exhilarating.

It leaves you feeling **determined**.

You also made a promise with Sans, and dammit, you’re gonna keep it. You flick your wrist, sending the image and window away. As long as Phantom didn’t find out, what was the harm? As long as you made sure not to mess with the timeline too much, to just visit for an hour to talk and listen to Sans, what could go wrong?

You decide that you _will_ visit him again tomorrow. For now, you focus on your duty, watching over the countless other timelines and universes. Your eyes never stray from a certain Underfell timeline for long, though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> STOP. MAKING. PROMISES.
> 
> You are being the opposite of Sans right now.
> 
> On a side note, the reader is around 5'02" and 5'06" so far? They're still 16, and humans don't stop growing until they're around 21? So, y'know, if you're super tall, it's still possible.
> 
> Funnily enough, I've always imagined Sans to be around 4'10" and 5'ft depending on the version (with US Sans being the shortest).
> 
> Until tomorrow (maybe)~


End file.
